Ben Shephard: Not hugging mum was awful

en Shephard admits it was "awful" not being able to hug his mum after not seeing her for months.

The 45-year-old TV presenter was finally able to catch up with his mum after the lockdown rules were eased - but they were still unable to embrace each other as the social distancing guidelines remain in place.

Speaking on \'Good Morning Britain\', he said: "I was able to see my mum socially distanced, we had a nice game of golf and it was lovely to see her. It was awful not being able to give her a hug, though."

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Ben has been filling in for co-host Piers Morgan on the ITV show, as he and Susanna Reid have taken some much-needed time off after working throughout the pandemic.

Meanwhile, \'Good Morning Britain\' was hit with more than 500 Ofcom complaints during a one-week spell earlier in May.

The ITV news show saw a steep rise in complaints on May 12, with 174 people phoning in to the regulator, and the next day, \'GMB\' had a further 98 complaints, while 76 unhappy viewers complained on May 14.

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However, when Piers - who has become known for taking government officials to task on the show - wasn\'t on the programme on the Friday, the complaints fell to just 10.

And on May 18, when Piers hit out at Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his colleagues, Ofcom received a further 51 calls.

The outspoken presenter has also blasted some footballers for allegedly flouting the lockdown rules during the pandemic.